Learn How To Create A Professional Website

Learn How To Create A Professional Website

You don't need to hire a web page design expert to have a good website. It is quite possible to create your site on your own if you have solid information on current trends. Don't fall prey to having someone else do for you what you can learn on your own. Try reading these tips to learn more about website design.

Keep the size of your web pages small. A lot of modern web pages are full of unnecessary elements, including huge images, Flash advertising, and lots of AJAX. Many people, especially those in rural areas and other countries with less-developed internet infrastructure, don't have high-speed Internet and will have to wait forever for a large page to load.

Don't force users to install strange BHOs. Many tech-savvy users won't do it. Common offenders include unusual video players, image viewers, and platforms for interactive games. For most standard use cases, there is a trusted plugin, such as Windows Media Player or even Flash) that will do what you want without driving away users.

If you want your site visitors to spend as much time as possible on your site, make text easy to read. One of the most common design mistakes is using graphic backgrounds with patterns or dark colors; combine this with equally dark text and you have a recipe for disaster. Unless the text is clear and easy to read, your site will not be a success.

Research keywords. Although content is important, you must develop a customer base using keywords. To make sure that people find your website more easily, you'll need to learn what keywords are and how to use them effectively.

Make text easy to ready by using colors that contrast or backgrounds that are easy to read text on. When your text is harder to read because the background or text color creates eye strain or portions of text that are unreadable, site visitors are less likely to stick around.

Use images wisely. Bitmap images do not tend to fare well for internet use, and some GIFs do not work well with lots of color. Image size is important as well, as larger images may make your viewers have to wait for them to download. Choose smaller images, and use them sparingly to make your site more manageable.

Make use of your grammar and spell checker. Yes, some mistakes may get passed some of your audience, but it will not get past everyone. You could lose some of your audience because of this, particularly if you make mistakes frequently. Do your best to correct your grammar and spelling on your site.

When selecting a domain name, it's important that you're creative. A big part of web design is having a site with a good, on-topic name. Having a catchy, relevant name will make people remember your website just as much as any design features would. Don't think that a name isn't an important feature.

Every page of your website should have a way to return to the main page, or "home." This ensures that when users navigate deeper into your site, they always have a way to start over if they lose place of what got them to the page they are on currently.

To help you create good web pages and fix mistakes on your own, learn computer languages. Educating yourself on how a website actually works will help you quickly fix any mistakes. Knowing how to deal with problems on your site will save you time and money, as you will not have to rely on outside help to remedy the situation.

You should set aside at least one day per week to update your website. If you're not updating it, you should at least check up on it to make sure that it's functioning properly. As a site designer, it's up to you, and you alone, to ensure that your site is in perfect working condition. If you fail to do so, you could lose a lot of traffic.

Creating a visual site map for your website is important. Knowing what you'll have on each page allows you to prepare ahead of time and to know what direction your site will take.

Steer clear of captchas. This causes your viewers to believe they have to do some type of difficult problem just for viewing a webpage. The only way they will stay on this page is if they're already a member that's devoted to the site.

When designing your website, it is a good idea not to stray too far from popular conventions. For example, most users expect that when they click on the website logo at the top of a webpage, they will be taken to the home page of the website. If your website behaves differently, it can confuse the user. In many cases, straying from such conventions can lead to a poor overall user experience.

When you are wanting to host particular videos on your website, you are going to have to check with that particular web host so you are able to know if it's allowed or not. Many hosts don't allow video hosting. Those FLV files absorb a great deal of server space that simply may not be available to you. Before putting the effort into this feature, make sure you're not wasting your time.

Make the web page sizes the smallest they can be. This will help your site load much faster overall. The faster your pages load, the more likely your visitors will stick around to view more of your site. If your site is too bulky in terms of page size, you may be in danger of having your visitor bounce to another website out of frustration.

Other than being simple, the best thing about web design is that it's easy to turn your dream into reality just by using a few code lines or a couple small clicks. The advice outlined above can be implemented to make fantastic websites. Be sure to use these methods as described.